As much as we love playing with and testing the latest and greatest phones here at AC, there is something we can universally agree on that we aren’t fans of — paying full price for flagship devices. If you’re in the market for a quality Android phone but don’t want to spend a thousand dollars, refurbished models offer a great experience at a fraction of what you’d typically spend. Here are our favorite options!
Best camera ever
Google Pixel 3
Staff pick
The Google Pixel 3 debuted in October 2018, and soon after its release, we easily determined it was one of the best Android phones you can buy. It has the best camera currently on a smartphone, a great AMOLED display, and a phenomenal software experience that’s always up-to-date. The best part? It’s already available for way cheaper than its MSRP when you buy refurbished.
From $429 at Amazon
A stupendous deal
OnePlus 6T
OnePlus regularly makes some of the best value flagships on the market, but if the OnePlus 7 Pro is a bit too rich for your blood, we recommend looking into a refurbished 6T. The OnePlus 6T’s design is still modern in 2019, thanks to its small waterdrop notch and sleek glass back. It has a Snapdragon 845 CPU, AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
From $390 at Amazon
Enter the Galaxy
Samsung Galaxy S9
This may not be the newest Samsung Galaxy phone on the market, but it’s one heck of a smartphone here in 2019. From a hardware standpoint, the S9’s design still stands out as a thing of beauty. The AMOLED display is one of the best around, the glass back supports wireless charging, and there’s a headphone jack. The S9 is a flagship through and through, just without the flagship price.
From $329 at Amazon
Great all around
LG G7
LG’s G7 didn’t receive a lot of attention when it was released last year, and that’s honestly a shame. While it isn’t the best Android phone ever created, it’s a really solid device in just about every regard. The LCD screen is solid, the metal + glass design looks great, the external speakers are insanely loud, and it has one of the highest-quality headphone jacks around.
From $255 at Amazon
Livin’ the stylus life
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
For years now, Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones have been iconic as some of the most powerful and capable handsets on the market. The Note 9 is the newest Note phone at this time, but you can already pick it up at a big discount when buying refurbished. Its AMOLED display is stunning, it’s fast enough to handle just about anything, and the utility you get with the S Pen is unmatched.
From $468 at Amazon
Pixel on the cheap
Google Pixel 2 XL
If you really like what the Pixel 3 brings to the table but can’t justify spending that much money, a refurbished Pixel 2 XL may be right up your alley. Despite having been released in 2017, its camera remains better than a lot of phones that were released in 2018 and even 2019. It’s also still receiving fast software updates, has a timeless design, and offers stereo front-facing speakers.
From $260 at Amazon
The refurbished Pixel 3 is a ridiculously good deal
We’ve raved a lot about how great the Pixel 3 is quite a bit on AC. It’s easily the best smartphone Google’s released to date, featuring a solid design, a clean software experience, and guaranteed updates/security patches.
All of that’s great, but if there’s something that stands out with this phone, it’s the camera. We’re still trying to figure out what kind of wizardry Google used to make the Pixel 3’s camera so damn good, so if you care at all about picture/video quality, this should be at the very top of your list. Add that together with stereo speakers, a super-fast Qualcomm processor, and everything else mentioned above, and it’s kind of amazing you can pick up the Pixel 3 for this little money.
Want to spend less? Check out the OnePlus 6T or Galaxy S9
If a refurbished Pixel 3 is still too rich for your blood, we also recommend checking out the OnePlus 6T. The 6T’s camera package isn’t nearly as impressive as the Pixel 3’s, but from just about every other perspective, it’s a top-notch flagship.
The 6T is powered by the same Snapdragon 845 processor, ships with a whopping 8GB of RAM, and has a fantastic 6.41-inch AMOLED display. Add that together with OnePlus’s excellent OxygenOS interface on top of Androd 9 Pie, and you’re looking at one heck of a package for under $400.
Alternatively, the Galaxy S9 is another great pick. It’s since been updated to Android 9/Samsung One UI, making the software cleaner and faster than ever before. Its AMOLED display also remains as one of the best you can get, and with things like expandable storage and a headphone jack, it offers a lot of utility.
Battery life isn’t amazing and the single rear camera isn’t the best you’ll find, but this is an overall great phone that brings way more to the table than it should at this price.
